Read More

Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, said: “It is fitting that 150 years to the day after the university marked its move to Gilmorehill, we are celebrating the next chapter in our history – the start of construction on our £1 billion campus development programme.

“This will be the largest expansion of the university’s estate since it moved to Gilmorehill and will create a rich and exciting mix of teaching, research and public spaces.

Rain Gardens (Image: Glasgow University)

“Alongside world class new buildings, which will boost the university’s teaching and research profile, we are creating a more accessible campus which will better link Byres Road with the cultural quarter around Kelvin Hall and the Kelvingrove Museum.

Read More

“I am delighted that the first building in this ambitious plan will provide state of the art learning facilities for our students, and in doing so will honour one of our most pioneering alumni in James McCune Smith.”

The stone was laid by the leader of Glasgow City Council, Councillor Susan Aitken, marking a new beginning for the university, and what will become a state-of-the-art space for more than 2,500 students.

University Avenue West (Image: Glasgow University)

It’s the first to be constructed through the uni’s £1 billion Campus Development programme, using the five hectare site at the old hospital.

The new building is named after James McCune Smith, the first African American to receive a medical degree, having graduated from Glasgow with an MD in 1837.

Read More

Councillor Aitken added: “Today marks another milestone in the continuing partnership between Glasgow University and Glasgow City Council but more importantly it is a crossroads of this great Scottish institution’s past and future.

University Place (Image: Glasgow University)

“The university and the city council have many shared ambitions and agendas, not least the city’s well-being and prosperity. Together we have developed and promoted Glasgow’s international reputation as centre for knowledge and learning and the James McCune building will significantly.

“I must also congratulate the university in its choice of name. By celebrating the first African American medical graduate from Glasgow during Black History Month it is at the forefront of the discussion Glasgow must have about addressing its slave economy past.”